Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Blog # 5

1. I think my biggest accomplishment with my final was branching into a different style on my second poster. Normally all of my work has a rough collage feel to it. But because the posters had to have two different styles to represent two different perspectives, I was forced to create a different style.

2. The one technique that gave me a lot of trouble in the beginning of class was using masks. I had learned about them before but forgotten everything. I couldn’t remember how to turn them on or what they were used for. During the final I was able to experiment with them a lot so now I know them inside and out.

3. I think I greatly improved my ability of making meaning with images between quiz four and the midterm. In quiz four I chose images based on they way they would be used I the layout rather than what they meant. In the midterm however, I was able to pick images that meant something and them alter them in photoshop so that they all worked together to form a message.

Final Project


Final Artist Statement

For my final, I decided to keep perspective as my Big Idea. This time however, I decided to explore the theme of music through the lens of perspective. As a graphic designer, I enjoy making posters. Therefore I decided to make two posters advertising The Beatles where each poster would represent one perspective of the band. The first perspective is from a teenage girl’s perspective of The Beatles when they were first introduced to the United States and “Beatlemania” ensued. I chose to represent this perspective by choosing an early picture of The Beatles when they were clean-cut. I also used bright colors with a collage-like feel to make it look like a teenage girl made the poster herself.
For the second poster, I chose to represent The Beatles more like “rock gods” and that would appeal to an older crowd. I did this by choosing a picture of them when they are older with more facial hair and look more like hippies. I also used darker, more serious colors contrasted with bright colors associated with the 60’s. I also incorporated images of the Vietnam war which occurred during that time period.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Blog #4

(. 1 For my final, I decided to keep perspective as my Big Idea. This time however, I decided to explore the theme of music through the lens of perspective. As a graphic designer, I enjoy making posters. Therefore I decided to make two posters advertising The Beatles where each poster would represent one perspective of the band. The first perspective is from a teenage girl’s perspective of The Beatles when they were first introduced to the United States and “Beatlemania” ensued. I chose to represent this perspective by choosing an early picture of The Beatles when they were clean-cut. I also used bright colors with a collage-like feel to make it look like a teenage girl made the poster herself.
For the second poster, I chose to represent The Beatles more like “rock gods” and would appeal to an older crowd. I did this by choosing a picture of them when they are older with more facial hair and look more like hippies. I also used darker, more serious colors.

(.2 My Big Idea is Perspective and my theme is the Beatles. My influences were music by The Beatles, the movie Across the Universe, as well as other Beatles posters.

http://nighthawknews.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/poster_across-the-universe1.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1223/1434655341_eca6045e83.jpg
http://www.yorkblog.com/flipside/the-beatles.jpeg
http://www.bruceeisner.com/photos/uncategorized/300pxbeatles29ra.jpg

(.3 The photoshop technique I would like to incorporate into my final is the Sketch/Painting effect in which a image can be made to look like it was drawn/painted ( better than simply using a filter).

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Midterm Diptych

Artist Statement

My Big Idea is perspective. In my brainstorming I looked many themes within the idea of perspective such as where people draw the line between funny and offensive and how people show their emotions. Next I decided that I wanted to focus on the theme of how perspective is formed and changed over time. However, after sharing this theme with my small group, we decided that that theme maybe a bit too complex for this project. They suggested that I focused on something more personal instead in order to help me narrow my focus. Therefore, my final theme under the Big Idea of perspective is my own view of myself through a white lens and black lens because I am biracial. I tied to convey this message through the use of opposing colors like black and white, as well as hot and cold colors red and blue. As far as subject matter, I used imagery of musicians to show my differing perspectives. I also used the image of two different trees with pictures in them to represent my family tree. Compositionally, I chose to use two mirroring layouts to show that both views are equal but different.

This idea Big Idea is important to me because I believe that better understanding of people and why they are the way they are allows for better acceptance and tolerance of others. 

Monday, August 17, 2009

Diptych Artist Statement Version #1

My Big Idea is perspective. In my brainstorming I looked many themes within the iea of perspective such as where people draw the line between funny and offensive and how people show their emotions. However the final theme I decided on was how perspective is formed and changed over time. With this new theme I tried to use images that show how environment and genetics influence perspective over time. Because of the complexity and interconnectivity of my theme some of the visual techniques I want to use are collage and transparency. I also want mix old images with more modern images to show the influence of time.   

This idea Big Idea is important to me because I believe that better understanding of people and why they are the way they are allows for better acceptance and tolerance of others. 

Blog #3



Nicholas Bohac, featured above, is the first artist that insired me. I have always been a fan of painting but I really enjoyed these pieces because of the colors used. The contrast between the deep brown and light blue are very appealing to me so I would like to try to encorporate that into my work if I can. This artist's Big Idea definately has to do with nature/the environment. I also like the quality that makes the image seem like it is made of many little images. This is another idea I may try to incorporate into my work.

http://beautifuldecay.com/2009/08/06/nicholas-bohac-2/#more-8491



Greg Ferris's work was my second choice because I think his Big Idea is related to my own, perspective. I also like his work because of the collage technique he uses. i was also thinking of working with collage so this will be a good refrence. He also uses lots of different textures which I think makes it appealing.

-http://beautifuldecay.com/2009/08/10/greg-ferris-trippy-collage/#more-8607

Wednesday, August 12, 2009


The image on the left is my brainstorming assignment on perspective.
The image on the right is my modulated meaning assignment. In this assignment I tried to focus more on how perspective develops and changes over time. Therefore, the left side of the work focuses on the past and how perspective is formed through one's physical self. The right side is more about how perspective changes as one experiences more things.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The tutorial I chose to use focused on displacement maps and texture. I picked this topoic because I had no idea what it was therefore I thought it would be helpful to learn and a little challenging. In the first snapshot above I cut out the image of a flower from on of my pictures. Then I adjusted the brightness and contrast in the image and blurred it to create the displacement map.

In the second snapshot I placed the texture I wanted in the file. I deviated from the tutorial slightly by choosing a stone texture instead of a wooden texture. Once the image was placed in my file, I used the displacement filter to treat the texture.
In the third snapshot I masked the texture over the flower image.


Finally, I adjusted the opacity and fill of the texture so that some of the shading in the flower could show through. The only problem I had with the tutorial was reducing the file size of the images to between 75-100 kb. For example, although some of the images are at the lowest possible quality, they are still more than 100 kb.

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161117&page=3

Monday, August 3, 2009

Big Idea Brainstorming

perspective

how people view the world
how many people see one event
how perspective influences understanding other people
common themes of perspective
perspective in terms of family
perspective in terms of friends
how perspective changes over time/age
what is funny/offensive